KC G.I.F.T. hands out millions for Black business growth: Proof it can be done | Opinion
Forty years ago, a review task force commissioned by Kansas City leaders found a cavernous hole in small business ownership in the city: Few people of color owned businesses and that was an economic problem. The commission implored city officials to repair it.
Instead, the report was shelved, like so many initially good-intentioned plans often are. This might be a good time for the city to pull it back off the shelf.
In 2026, approximately 3% of employer firms (those with at least one employee) in the Kansas City metropolitan area are Black-owned, hardly changed at all from 1980 when Black-owned firms comprised roughly 2% to 3% of all firms in the area.
But in 2020, a group of Facebook friends sought to change that dynamic and give Black business-owner wannabes a chance. The effort started with six online acquaintances contributing $10 a month and then seeking additional financial support from other donors.
In nearly six years, Kansas City Generating Income For Tomorrow or KC G.I.F.T., a non-profit that lends financial and business consulting support to Black entrepreneurs, has made a significant dent in the presence of Black-owned businesses in Kansas City.
Black-owned businesses
Significant, not because it has drastically changed the aforementioned percentages, at least not yet. But because it has momentum that shows the possibilities for success, not only to prospective business owners, but also to philanthropists and financial institutions, who historically have not readily supported new business owners of color. And that is huge.
The 1980s report said this about the role financial lending institutions have played over the decades in stifling the start and success of Black business in Kansas City and, frankly, across the country. “Capital, so crucial to business success, is less available to minority than white business persons. Lack of wealth within the minority community reduces the amount of seed and start-up capital an entrepreneur can hope to raise.”
It said, at that time, that in Kansas City, like elsewhere, “Black and other minority businesspersons are generally considered greater risks than their white counterparts.”
This week G.I.F.T. announced that it has crossed the $2 million threshold in grant funding for Black entrepreneurs, marking a major milestone towards closing Kansas City’s racial wealth gap. It illuminates the value in investing in new Black business owners.
“It represents what is possible when we choose to invest in Black businesses with intention and consistency,” said Brandon Calloway, chief executive officer at G.I.F.T.
The black-run non-profit has invested in 86 Black-owned businesses, helping create 151 jobs and fueling dramatic revenue growth across the community. Beyond direct grants, G.I.F.T. has provided more than $1 million in additional business support services, including legal, accounting, and marketing assistance to help businesses grow and sustain.
Entrepreneurial gaps
“That is incredible,” said Ebony Reed, co-author of “Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap.”
“G.I.F.T. is helping to build a stronger, more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Kansas City,” she said. “In many ways, its work reflects long-standing recommendations from past civic efforts to strengthen Black entrepreneurship, delivered with remarkable speed and community engagement and alignment.”
As recently as last week, G.I.F.T. — which gets an estimated. $9 million worth of funding requests every year — awarded $60,000 to an entrepreneur during a local pitch competition.
I asked Calloway who his donors are and why they give. He said 70% of his donors are not Black. He attributes that to racially imposed systemic barriers to wealth that mean Black communities don’t have the level of disposable income others have. That’s what he’s trying to change.
As for why they give, in an anonymous survey he circulated, his donors gave emotional responses to the question. They felt that longstanding systemic discrimination against Black people was wrong, and giving is a way for them to make up for some of that.
Yes, I’m applauding G.I.F.T. here, but I know not everyone is a cheerleader. GIFT turns away a lot of grant seekers for various reasons. I also know that while G.I.F.T. is doing good work, they are not the only ones.
More importantly, I know the Black/white wealth gap won’t soon disappear.
“Business ownership alone likely can not close the Black-white wealth gap,” Reed said, and of course, I agree with her because it is true.
It is not lost on me that business owners are juggling the same high costs of living, housing, healthcare, food, and more as the rest of us. “Major societal structures would have to be addressed and changed,” she said.
So maybe it’s time for another study, city officials. This time one that gets put to work, identifies barriers and knocks them down. That would make Kansas City an even more economically inclusive city and a stronger one to boot.
This story was originally published April 2, 2026 at 5:07 AM.
